Shattered Sanctum

Walkthrough

The area in the order you play it. Tick things off as you go: they tick off in the checklists below too.

1. 1

   1. Pass the Entryway Vestibule

   When you push through the Heavy Oak Doors from the exterior camp, Warrior Trinzas halts your party at the guard post. Bypass her squad through deception, an illithid dialogue option, brandishing the Absolute's mark, or relying on Sazza's escort if you brought her from the Grove. Once the guards stand down, you can freely walk the southern hall or climb ladders into the high rafters above.

   Tip: Tip: Climbing into the rafters gives you early scouting access and safe high-ground positions across the entire central hall.

   Watch out: Warning: Attacking Trinzas or raising an alarm here immediately alerts the entire entrance vestibule before you can speak to any leaders.

2. 2

   2. Free Liam and Meet Volo in the East Wing

   Turn into the eastern torture wing to find Liam strapped to a rack where Torturer Spike and Maggar question him. Persuade or deceive Spike to take over the interrogation, then quietly free Liam so he can flee through the chasm tunnel. Just down the passage, speak to Gribbo to purchase, deceive, or intimidate her into handing over the cage key so you can rescue Volo, who drinks an Invisibility Potion to slip away to your campsite.

   Jagged Spear: from the torture rack where Liam is bound at X: 336, Y: -34 to the adjacent wall rackHow: pick it up from where it leans against the stone wallMissable because: lost permanently once you transition to Act 2 Don't miss New

   Tip: Tip: You can swipe Volo's cage key directly from Gribbo's pocket without starting any dialogue checks.

   Watch out: Warning: If you start open combat with the goblin leadership before liberating Volo, he can be permanently caught in the crossfire or locked out of rescue.

3. 3

   3. Endure Abdirak’s Penance at the Bloodied Shrine

   Head further east into the Bloodied Shrine, where the Loviatar priest Abdirak tends his sacrificial altar. Speak to Abdirak and offer to undergo his ritual, then pass three successive Performance or Intimidation checks against the wall to receive the permanent Loviatar's Love buff. While in the chamber, you can safely pocket the ritual weapons lying out in the open.

   Ritual Dagger: Set on the sacrificial blood table next to Abdirak inside the Bloodied Shrine Don't miss

   Tip: Tip: Keep your back to the wall and avoid backing out of the penance early to ensure you secure the buff on the third strike.

   Watch out: Warning: Loviatar's Love is lost permanently on that character if they die and need resurrection later in your playthrough.

4. 4

   4. Confront Priestess Gut at the Central Altar

   Return to the grand nave where Priestess Gut preaches above the giant spider pit, offering to mark your party with the Brand of the Absolute. Accept her offer to be branded for cult-specific dialogue perks, then follow her into her side chapel under the guise of curing your tadpole. Once isolated inside her private room, eliminate Gut in a single turn—using a spell like *Silence* to stop her from using her war drum—to prevent her from summoning the guards and opening the way to the locked Defiled Temple door.

   Absolute's Talisman: from Priestess Gut at the central nave altar to her corpse inside her private chapelHow: defeat Priestess Gut and search her bodyMissable because: unavailable if you side with the Absolute leaders or advance to Act 2 without defeating her Don't miss NewAbsolute's Warboard: from Priestess Gut at the central nave altar to her corpse inside her private chapelHow: defeat Priestess Gut and search her bodyMissable because: unavailable if you side with the Absolute leaders or advance to Act 2 without defeating her Don't miss New

   Tip: Tip: You can speak to the two Giant Spiders beneath the walkway with *Speak with Animals* and persuade them to turn on the goblins when combat erupts.

   Watch out: Warning: If Gut sounds her war drum or shouts for backup, the whole central courtyard turns hostile at once.

5. 5

   5. Trade with the Zhentarim in the West Annex

   Walk into the western hall where Roah Moonglow and her Zhentarim bodyguards manage a black-market outpost stocked with Smokepowder barrels. Browse her unique gear, ammunition, and rare supplies before undertaking any open hostility in the stronghold. Make your purchases now, as the Zhentarim pack up their crates and flee or turn hostile the moment full-scale warfare engulfs the sanctum.

   Tip: Tip: Stocking up on Smokepowder barrels from Roah gives you portable explosives you can plant near boss zones later.

   Watch out: Warning: Do not attack Dror Ragzlin before visiting Roah, or you lose access to her merchant inventory for the rest of Act 1.

6. 6

   6. Resolve Minthara’s Raid in the Northeast Command Post

   Move into the northeast wing where Nightwarden Minthara oversees the Grove assault preparations near the Worg Pens entrance. Either give her the Grove's location to trigger the raid, or engage her here alongside her goblin trackers to clear her from the cult's command structure. If you wish to recruit her later at Moonrise Towers while saving the Grove, toggle Non-Lethal Attacks while she is Temporarily Hostile and knock her unconscious instead of dealing a killing blow, then strip the equipment from her body and loot the study chest nearby.

   The Watersparkers: Gilded chest in the study area occupied by Minthara (X: 339 Y: 41) Don't missSpidersilk Armour: Equipped and carried by Minthara Don't missRing of Poison Resistance: from Minthara's command post at X: 333, Y: 42 to the open sarcophagus in the rear alcove at X: 338, Y: 14How: search the skeleton resting inside the open stone sarcophagusMissable because: lost permanently once you transition to Act 2 Don't miss New

   Tip: Tip: Destroy the war drum on the elevated ledge before starting combat so her guards cannot summon reinforcements from adjacent halls.

   Watch out: Warning: Openly agreeing to butcher the Emerald Grove causes Wyll and Karlach to permanently abandon your party.

7. 7

   7. Disrupt Dror Ragzlin’s Seance and Raid His Vault

   Enter the northern dais where Dror Ragzlin conducts a *Speak with Dead* ritual over an expired mind flayer surrounded by cultists. Intervene using Wisdom or illithid dialogue checks to redirect the corpse's answers so it does not identify you as its slayer, then dispatch Ragzlin and his audience. Once the chamber is cleared, loot Ragzlin's key and unlock the gated treasure vault directly behind his throne to plunder his private cache.

   Amulet of Selûne's Chosen: Found within Dror Ragzlin's gated treasure cache behind his throne Don't missBehind Dror Ragzlin's throne sits an iron-grated storage vault filled with locked chests, reachable either by picking the locked gate or by looting Dror Ragzlin's personal key to open the heavy iron gate.Faithbreaker: from Dror Ragzlin's throne at X: 297, Y: 40 to his bodyHow: loot his corpse after defeating himMissable because: lost if his corpse falls into a chasm or is left behind upon leaving for Act 2 Don't miss NewInfernal Iron: from Dror Ragzlin's throne at X: 297, Y: 40 to the locked iron-grated vault behind it at X: 297, Y: 68How: unlock the iron gate with Ragzlin's key or a DC 18 Sleight of Hand check, then loot the heavy chestMissable because: required for Karlach's quest *Our Fiery Friend* and inaccessible if you leave Act 1 Don't miss NewGloves of the Growling Underdog: from Dror Ragzlin's throne at X: 297, Y: 40 to the locked iron-grated vault behind it at X: 297, Y: 68How: unlock the vault gate and open the treasure chest insideMissable because: locked out permanently once you transition to Act 2 Don't miss New

   Tip: Tip: Position your ranged characters along the ceiling rafters above the throne room to rain attacks down on Ragzlin with permanent high-ground advantage.

   Watch out: Warning: Killing or attacking Dror Ragzlin instantly makes every goblin throughout the entire Shattered Sanctum and the outer camp permanently hostile.

What you decide here and what it leads to.